Lotto millionaires seal it with a kiss at tower

Andrew Cunliffe and Natalie Cliff from Blackpool are getting married after winning �1m on a scratchcard

Published:08:32Updated:11:42Wednesday 24 February 2016

Share this article

A lucky Blackpool couple who scooped an incredible £1m on a National Lottery scratchcard revelled in the spotlight as they revealed they are planning a sunkissed wedding.

Andrew Cunliffe, 37, won the seven-figure sum when he bought a scratchcard while nipping to Asda to buy some teabags for his workmates on February 12.

Andrew Cunliffe and Natalie Cliff from Blackpool are getting married after winning �1m on a scratchcard

His first act as a millionaire was to get down on one knee and propose to his girlfriend Natalie Cliff, 30, in hope of finally giving her ‘the wedding she always dreamed of’.

He said: “It is something I have been wanting to do for a long time but I always worried I would not be able to give Natalie the wedding of her dreams. Now I can.”

The delighted couple celebrated their win – and engagement – with flowers and Champagne at the famous Blackpool Tower where they met five years ago. Andrew, who works as a site construction manager with RP Tyson Construction, was carrying out renovation work at the Tower, where Natalie works as an events manager.

Andrew said: “We started talking and we just clicked.”

The couple are now looking forward to their wedding, which they hope will take place late next year – but have vowed to be ‘careful’ with the remainder of their unexpected win

Natalie said: “We have always wanted to go abroad. We want it to be somewhere sunny and nice with a beach.

“We’re not usually extravagant people. Now we can afford exactly what we’ve always dreamed of.

“We can spend thousands and thousands on a wedding and get entertainment that we might not have had and we won’t have to save up for it.”

She added they have no plans to take a break from work, and would use the money to look after their two-year-old daughter.

She said: “The only thing we have thought about is probably paying off the mortgage. We want to be debt-free.

“We have to be quite careful because it’s not an amount you can retire on.

“We could spend thousands on a dream holiday to Florida for our little girl – but we’ll wait until she can remember it first.”

Andrew added: “You never think it’s going to happen to you and when it does it’s just a whirlwind.

“We just want to do what’s best for our family and our little girl. We won on the Friday and we were back at work on the Monday morning.”

The couple are already saving up the pounds as Natalie decided to wear her grandmother’s old engagement ring rather than splash out on a new, expensive stone.

Andrew said: “I think the news really is still just sinking in and I think this will take several weeks. We are not going to rush into anything. We are just going to take our time and ensure we make the right decisions.”

Trending

Update given on animals at Chester Zoo after massive fire

Coyle set for Fleetwood Town return as team-mates are hamstrung

Drugs worth £3m seized from Fleetwood cannabis factory

Reducing waiting lists at Blackpool Victoria Hospital’s Accident and Emergency Department: ‘My job is to make sure that our A&E is not one big traffic jam’